Apparatus for discharging viscous liquids in a well



APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING VISCCUS LIQUIDS IN A WELL Filed June 18, 19.45

W. B. FULTZ Oct. 17, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Wilford B. Flltz- INVENTOR.

HIS GEN T.

Patented Oct. 17, 1950 Y APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING vlsooUs LIoUins 1N AWELL Y Wilford B. Fultz, Graham, Tex.Y Application June 18, 1945,'Serial No. 600,187

' vvThis invention relates to improvements in apparatusr for dischargingAviscous liquids at and ne'arth'e bottom of a well, and moreparticularly tothe discharging of 'viscous liquids'ata regulateddischarge rate lin the well as the bailer is Y' moved upward,` thuspresenting no vopportunity Vfor the viscous liquid to set about-theoutside `of the dumping bailer for 'the liquid and to bewithdrawntherewith. l

The dumping of liquids from a dumping bailer into the bottom of a wellhas long'be'en practiced, but the comparatively recent use of viscousliquids or cellulose plastics to seal *oil certain formations, and theirbehavior, has presented new. problems. This invention'has beenf-de'- f"signed to overcome'the problems and diiliculties peculiar to the dumpingof `viscous liquids or cel- Ich lulose plastics into a well and removingthe dumping bailer therefrom.

The primary object of thisinvention is to pro'- vide for dischargingviscous liquids in a well in regulated amounts as the dumping bailer isbeing withdrawn from the well. n 'Y Another object of this invention isto provide for discharging viscous liquids in the bore hole of a well insuch manner that they will be discharged at the desired place but willnot adhereV to the dumping bailer and be withdrawn thereby from thevwell.

Still another object of this invention is to provide for dumping viscousliquids inthe bore hole of a well at the place and rate desiredand'without waste of the liquid or adherence of the liquid to theapparatus which might renderfitinoperative ineiiicient.

Another object ofrthis invention is to discharge liquid plastic in thebore hole of' agwell for-theV l purpose of sealing'oiif certainformations, for eX'- a'mple. to prevent'intrusion of water during thedrilling of an oil well, and without sealing the I dumping apparatus inthe well as the liquid sets.

The invention is `shown indifferent embodiments in the accompanying:drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectionV through a deep well with parts broken awayand in section to show the dumpingl bailer discharging 'viscous liquids.

j' 4'OneLor more intermediate 2 Y Y Fig.V '6 is a similar View, partlyin elevation, through a modified form of the invention;

Fig. IV is a crossv section on the line 1-''I of I Figl Fig( 8'isasimilar view on the line 8 8 of YFig-6';

Fig.' 9 'is a similar view on theline 9--9 of y Fig. 6'; and A Fig. 10is a. longitudinal sectionthrough still another modified form oftheinvention.

The invention is shown in connection with a deepY well I having a casing2 therein. The wellI Ijextends downwardly in the earth formation, suchas oil-containing formation, and projects below the lower end of thecasing 2.

vAudumping' bailer, generally designated as`3, isshown suspended by acable 4, in'position in the lower part of the Well I with viscous liquidor liquid plastic P therein. Fig. 1 Yillustrates howthe liquid plasticpasses from the lower end ol the dumping bailer, the dumping bailerinitially containing the liquid plastic therein. The dumping bailer 3may be of different forms, as

desired." I have shown several forms in the drawings for purposeV ofillustration.

.In the form of dumping bailer 3V shown in Figs.Y I

2 to`w5, along tubular body is adapted to form a receptacle forcontaining the viscous liquid P for-discharge therefrom. y The'body isformed of sections 5, 6, 'I and 8 interconnected in rigid relation,havingl screw-threaded connection with each other.4 v

sections may be used according to the length'and capacity desired, twoof` which" are shown at 6 and vl. The bailer should kcontain sufcientplastic to fill the bottom cavity-'of thewell. The upper Section5 has ab'ail'S fixed thereto for suspension of the bailer `by the cable 4.

`The` lower section 8 ispartially closed at its lowerend with a guidesleeve I0, and is provided also with discharge openings II `in differentsides thereof. A sleeve valve I2 controls the openings -Hghavingopenings I3 in position to register therewith. I n Y jThe` sleeve`valveIZ is ixed,v by welding or otherwisegtoa guide rod I4 extendingvertically through theV tubular body and down `through* the guide sleeveIlljwith a foot I5 onvthe lower end thereof. The guide rod I4 has aspring latch I6 .fixed to a side thereof4 inrpositionto engage aseatellin the'guide sleevegl, to hold the rod v.inits;elevatedposition,as shown in Fig. 2. An

orice I8 in the sleeve I0 adjacent the seat I'I provides `access to thevlatch Minto release the flatter from the seat Il. The upward movement ofthe valve I2 is limited by a shoulder I9 at the lower end of the section1.

A piston 2D is mounted in the tubular body in position to bear on thecolumn of viscous liquid therein, and is sleeved over the guide rod I4.The piston 20 preferably carries a cup 2| in position to urge theviscous plastic towardthe bottom of the dumping bailer.

rThe piston 2B is held at a point near the top of the dump bailer by alatch 22. The latch 22 is substantially of bell-crank shape and ispivotally mounted at 23 on a bracket 2lsecured to the upper section 5.22 overlies the upper end of the guide rod I 4, while the other armthereof is in position to engage a lug 25 which is secured to the top ofpiston 20. The latch 22 is held in engagement with lug 25 by a torsionspring 2S.

In the process of using the device as shown in Figs. 2.to 5, thefuppersection 5 of the tubular body is removed and one or more sections -6, 1,are connected to the lower section 8 suicient to accommodate the desiredquantity of viscous liquid. With the valve I2 closed, as shown-in Fig.5, the tubular body is filled with viscous plastic. The upper section 5is then secured in place .with the piston above the body of liquid.

The dumping bailer is then lowered intothe well as shown in Fig. l,until the foot I5 on the lower end. of the rod I Il touches the bottomof the well, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. This will move the rodIII upward and cause the bell-crank latch 22 to move from the positionshown in dotted lines to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2. Asthe rod I4 moves upward Ywith the valve I2 the latter will engage theshoulder I9 and will cause ports II and I3 to be moved into registry.

When the piston 2l) is released by the latch 22, the weight thereof willforce the viscous plastic down in the body and out through the ports IIand I3, into the lower portion of the well. 'Ihen the dumping bailer ismoved upward immediately from the position shown in dotted lines in Fig.1, at a predetermined rate of travel, and the viscous liquid will nowoutward into the bottom of the well with only the lower end of thedumping bailer extending into the discharged plastic.

It will be appreciated that by maintainingl the discharge portssubstantially at the upper level of the discharged body of viscousplastic in the well, air bubbles will be prevented fromv forming, aswould be the case if the plastic material were dumped from a higherelevation. However,

with the dumping bailer moving upward at a regulated rate, with only thedischarge portsand the lower extremity of the bailer below the surfaceof the viscous plastic, water or other liquid in the well, of lighterspecific gravity, will be oated upward above the plastic and thus beprevented from mixing therewith. With only the lower end of the dumpingbailer protruding into the viscous plastic only a very small amountwould adhere to the bailer as it empties and is moved upward.

The weight of thepiston 2l) should be sufciently heavy to cause theviscous liquid to be discharged through the open ports I I and I3. Bycalculation or experimentation the time interval required for the pistonto travel downward to the bottom of the bailer and discharge all theviscous plastic as the bailer moves upward away from the body oflplastic in the well can bedetermined readily, With the rate of travelof both the piston and the bailer regulated so that the `One arm of thebell-crank latch bailer is emptied just as the lower end thereof reachesthe top of the discharged plastic, it can be appreciated readily thatthe flow of the plastic upward around the bailer is prevented and thatthe bailer is withdrawn from the plastic before the same can settherearound.

After the viscous plastic has been allowed to harden or set at the pointwhere it has been deposited in the well in order to seal 01T aparticular formation, such as a caving formation, which will harden andprevent caving, a hole may be drilled therethrough, if desired, so thatdrilling or other operations may be continued, but leaving the hardenedplastic adhering to the walls of the well in an annular ring to seal offthe desired formation. The usual practice is to seal off the water byletting the plastic harden in the lower portion of the well to hold thewater back. TheV plastic penetrates the formation and as it hardens itexpands to form a positive seal therewith `and is bonded-thereto byadherence to the plastic within the formation.

Any or all of the modifications of the invention are,v applicable to theuse or uses of liquid plastic vin the well.

One modified form of the bailer is shown in Figs. 6 to 9, in which atubular shell, generally designated'by the numeral 33. has an uppersection 35, one or more intermediate sections 36, a swaged section 31,and a lower section 38 threaded onto the swaged section 31. An annularshoulder 33 on the lower section 38 holds a frangible disc 4D againstthe bottom of a sealing gasket 4I to close the lower end of the sw-agedsection 31 so as to retain the viscous4 plastic therein.

Ports 42 are formed in the lower portion of the section 38- to permitthe viscous plastic to be discharged therethrough when frangible disc 40is broken. An axial rod i3 passes through the lower end of the tubularsection 38 and in alignment to breal: the frangible disc 4I] on theupward movement of the rod e3 against the tension ofV a spring 4d. A pinA5 retains'the rod 43 in the desired spaced relation from the frangibledisc eil, limiting the downward movement of the rod.

An eye-stem IIS s mounted in the upper portion of the tubular section35, and has a head 41 adapted te engage a bell-crank latch C18. whichlatch is held in engagement with hook 49 by a torsion spring 53. Thebell-crank latch I8 is pivotally mounted cna pin between ears 52 at oneside of. the tubular section The yhook 139 is provided on a weightedpiston which preferably has a cup 513 secured te the lower end thereofand adapted to fit the inner wall of the tubular .sections 35, 36.

Themo-dication of the invention as shown in Figs. 6 to 9 utilizes thesame principle as that described above. However, the method of releasingthe viscous plasticis by lowering the dumping bailer to the bottom ofthe well by a cable 0r other suitable means attached to the eye-stem d6,until the aXial rod 43 seats on the bottom of the well. This causes therod .3 to move upward relatively against tension of the spring lll andto break the frangible disc [It which normally seals the lower end ofthe dumping bailer and retains the viscous plastic therein until suchfrangible disc is broken by the relative upward movement of the rod 43when it strikes the bottom of the well.

When theweight of the dumping bailer isrelieved from the cable, the stem43, to which the cable is attached, will move downward relatively vtomof the well. engage the seat 'Il' and hold the valve in raised to tripbell crank latch 48 which will release the piston 53. yThe piston thenmoves downward in the dumping bailey to start the discharge of theviscous plastic through ports l2 as the bailer is moved upward in amanner substantially as described above.

A further modication of the dumping bailer is shown in Fig. 10, in whicha tubular body, generally designated as 63, has an upper section 65,with a bail 69 thereon, one or more intermediate sections 56 and a lowersection 68. The lower section 68 has an axial rod 'Hl protruding fromthe lower end thereof foy engagement with the bottom of the well. Thelower end of the section 58 is reduced to form a guide for the rod. Aspring latch 16, similar to the latch shown in Fig. 2, engages a seat'V' to retain the valve 'i2 attached to the rod v 14, in open position.Ports 'H in the section 68 are adapted to register with holes 'il in asleeve valve 12, when the valve is in raised position.

A piston 80 is adapted to be tted within the tubular member 63 and has acup 'El seated on the column of liquid, thereby preventing the movementof the piston 80 downward until the ports 'Il and holes '13 register andpermit the outward ow of the viscous plastic from the tubular body 63into the wall. Since the cup 8i is in snug Iritting relation with theinner diameter of the tubular body 63, it will be prevented from movingdownward unless the viscous plastic is being discharged, and it willalso allow the weight of the piston to force the liquid out.

In the form'of the invention shown in Fig. 10, the dumping baileyoperates in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 2 and describedabove, eX- cept that the piston 80 is allowedto rest or float on top ofthe viscous plastic contained in the tubular body. The dumping bailer isthen lowered into the well until the axial rod 1li strikes the bot- Thiswill cause the latch 16 to position with ports H and '13 in registry.

The piston 80 then moves downward forcing the viscous plastic outwardthrough said ports, and the dumping bailer is simultaneously raised atsuch rate that as the viscous plastic lls the lower portion of the well,the ports 1|, 'I3 will be maintained substantially at the top level ofsaid discharging plastio or with the bottom of the bailer only slightlysubmerged therein. This method of dumping the viscous plasticinto thebottom of the well will allow it to flow in place without mixing withany water that may be present in the well and without air bubblesbecoming entrained therein.

After the viscous liquid has been dumped in the well, and the entirecontents of the bailey discharged, the bailer 63 is withdrawn and a rodor tool passed through the hole 18 opposite spring 16 to release thespring from its seat 1l', so that the valve may be moved downward to theposition shown in Fig. 10. The bailer is then ready for re-use.

It will be evident that the dumping bailer should be raised at apredetermined rate, as described above. This may be accomplished by anysuitable hoisting mechanism attached to the line 4, and so controlled bythe operator as to move the bailer upward at the same rate that theliquid level rises in the well, keeping the discharge orices at Vtheliquid level. No particular form of hoisting mechanism is required forthis purpose.

I claim:

In an apparatus for dumping viscous liquid at a point near the bottom ofa Well, the combination of a tubular body adapted to be lowered in thewell, a frangible seal closing the lower end of said tubular body, a rodpassing through the lower portion of said tubular body below said sealand movable therein, said rod being in position to move upwardly tobreak said frangible seal upon contact of said rod with the bottom ofthe well, a piston disposed within said tubular body above the viscousliquid in the body, a latch on the body initially holding the pistonstationary in the upper end of said tubular body means movably mountedin the upper end of said tubular body and movable to engage and'releasesaid latch to release said piston after said tublay body reaches thebottom of said well. l

WILFORD B. FULTZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Bannister Oct. 16, 1945

